Curtain wall safety panel

ABSTRACT

A safety curtain wall panel in a building is disclosed which includes a safety sash normally held in a closed position by a latch but which is automatically moved to an open position with respect to the panel when a sensing device detects an undesired atmosphere in the building. By this means smoke or heat detected will cause the sash to open permitting the building to be ventilated.

finite @tates ?atent 1 [1 11 3,757,471

@ougherty Sept. 11, R973 [54] CURTAIN WALL SAFETY PANEL 2,604,790 7/1952Derby et al. 49/] X [75] Inventor: John S. Dougherty, Miami, Fla.FOREIGN PATENTS OR pp g [73] Assignee: Allied Products Corporation,726,734 3/1955 Great Britain 49/374 Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Nov. 9, 1971 Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney-JohnA. Mitchell et a1. [21] Appl. No.: 197,013

[57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. C1 49/2, 49/31, 49/37 A,

52/} A safety curtain wall panel in a building 18 disclosed s 1] lint.C1 E05t 15/20 which includes a Safety Sash normally held in a closed[58] Field of Search 49/1, 2, 7, 374, P by a latch but which isautomatically moved 49/31, 379, 141; 52/1, 235, 207; 160/6, 7 27, anopen position with respect to the panel when a sens- 28, 100; 98/88;236/49 ing device detects an undesired atmosphere in the building. Bythis means smoke or heat detected will [56] References Cited cause thesash to open permitting the building to be UNITED. STATES PATENTS2,171,365 8/1939 Harding 49/2 X 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEI]SEPI 1 I975 SHEEI 1 0F 2 PATENTED SEP I I '975 SHEEFZUFZ SUMMARY or THEINVENTION This invention relates to curtain wall designs for buildings,particularly high rise buildings, with a safety sash as an integral partof said curtain walls.

Curtain wall designs are widely used in many building structures andparticularly in high rise" buildings. A curtain wall system basicallyconsists of an assembly of vertical and horizontal mullions hung andanchored to the exterior perimeter of a basic building structure.Mullions serve as structural framing members at each floor for fixed oroperable vision glass areas, for obscure glass areas, or metal spandrelpanels which may be used to cover the buildings structural beams andother members supporting the floors and ceilings. In addition, otherpanels, usually metal, although they may be of other materials, are hungto cover the building structural column supports and normally run fromthe grade line to the roof.

For economy purposes, many metal curtain wall s'ysterns are of the fixedtype. By fixed is meant there are no operable window sash units and,therefore, the exterior facing of the building may be designed withcontinuous, straight and uninterrupted vertical and/or horizontal lines.If operable sashes, usable for ventilation or window cleaning, are used,major modifications must be made to the design of the building toincorporate additional materials and, with the resulting additionallabor, thus increasing the cost of construction.

Also, such modifications would cause the generally esthetically desiredclean, continuous and straight lines of the otherwise fixed system to beinterrupted.

While the fixed systems have been desired for esthetic and economyreasons, serious deficiencies have been found with these systems. Insome cases minor fires within the building have resulted in seriousinjuries from heat, smoke and toxic fumes. Deaths have even occurred. Asa result of these shortcomings of the fixed system, there has been ademand for a solution which would permit the venting of such buildingsto relieve the hazard of heat which builds up during a fire as well asthe hazard of trapped smoke contained therein.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anoperable safety sash which may be incorporated into what would be anormally appearing fixed curtain wall system, yet the sash would beoperable to vent a building of heat and smoke in the event that a firewere to occur. It is a further object of the present invention to obtainthe foregoing objective without unduly interfering with the desiredesthetic appearance of the building which is normally found with a fixedsystem. I

Therefore, in the present invention, a safety curtain wall constructionis utilized wherey a safety sash making up but one component of thecurtain wall is normally latched in place in a closed positon. Sensingmeans are provided and the sensing means are responsive to a selectedundesired atmosphere such as smoke or heat. Means such as a solenoid isconnected to the sensing device and activated by the heat or smoke. Thesolenoid in turn causes the latch to become disengaged permitting thesash to open and vent the adjacent area.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of acurtain wall in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section through the curtain wall structure of FIG. 1 takenalong lines 2-2;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the latch housing cam means relating tothe operable safety sash;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the latch means of FIG. 3 taken alonglines 4-4; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the solenoid and cam device of FIG. 4taken along lines 5-5 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and toFIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, a curtain wall 10 usable in a building suchas a high rise structure is shown. The wall 10 includes verticalmullions l2 and a series of lateral or horizontal mullions. Thehorizontal mullions include a spandrel mullion 14, a drop sash mullion18v and a fixed sash mullion 18. The relationship of the mullions to thebuilding floor lines may be noted by reference to floor line 20.

The curtain wall also includes a series of sash units. These sash unitsconsist of a spandrel sash 22, a drop sash 24 and a fixed sash- 26. Thespandrel sash 22 includes a spandrel panel 28 which in the illustratedembodiment is an obscure glass, although it may be made from metal orother material if desired. The panel 28 is set by conventional means ina bottom spandrel 30. Theupper portion of the panel 28 is also connectedto conventional means to the upper spandrel panel rail 32. The spandrelsash 22 further includes an inner insulating panel 34, which is attachedto the lower rail 30. The upper portion of the insulatingpanel 34 isconnected to an upper insulation rail 36.

The bottom spandrel panel 28 and the insulating panel 34 along withtheir upper rails 32 and 36 and the bottom rail 30 cooperate to form a-U-shaped well 38. It is into the U-shaped well 38 that the drop sash 24is moveable. i

The drop sash 24 includes a lower drop rail 40 and an upper drop rail42. In'order to provide a tight fit within the well 38, seals 44 areprovided on the lower drop rail 40 and these contact the inner surfacesof the upper spandrel rail 32 and the upper insulating rail 36.

A drop panel 46, normally made of vision glass, extends between thelower drop rail40 and the upper drop rail 42. A pair of seals 48 areprovided on the outer surfaces 50 of the upper drop rail 42. The seals44 and 48 insure that there will be no substantial transfer of moistureor cold-about the drop sash 24 and into the U- shapedwell 38 or an upperhousing 52.

The interior dimensions of the housing 52 only have to be sufficient toaccommodate a release mechanism which is contained therein. In apractical application the cross sectional dimensionsof the housing 52may be as small as 2 inches by 3 inches.

Mounted on the upper drop rail 42 is'a hook 54. The hook 54 engages alatch 56 which includes a roller 57. The roller 57 is inintimate'contact with the hook when the drop sash 24 is in a closedposition relative to the curtain wall.

The latch 56 is pivoted on a pin 58 which in turn is supported on afixedbracket 60. To insure that the latch will be in engagement with thehook 54,a spring 62 is biased against the housing wall 64 urging thelatch into hook engagement.

As shown in FIG. 5 a sensing device 66 is connected by wires 68 to asolenoid 70. The sensing device 66 may be made sensitive to either heator smoke or both. It in turn is connected to a source of electricity notshown.

The throw 72 of the solenoid 70 has a yoke end through which a pin 74 isinserted. One end of a cam 76 is also inserted into the yoke and the pin74 is passed therethrough. While the cam 76 is only pivoted at pin 74,it also has a cam slot 78. Into the cam slot 76 a cam pin 80 in the formof a bolt is fitted. One end 82 of the cam which is away from the pivotpin 74 bears against a surface 84 of the latch 56.

in actual operation the drop sash 24 is held in a closed position sothat it functions as an integral part of a fixed curtain wall system. Inthe event that a fire occurs in the vicinity of the sensing device 66,and the intensity of the heat or smoke is sufficient to activate thedevice the following operation occurs. The solenoid 70 is activated andthe throw 72 is moved forward moving the cam the phantom line positionshown in FIG. 5. When that occurs the latch 56 is moved out ofengagement with the hook 54 with this engagement being facilitated bythe roller 57 and against the biasing action of the spring 62. Normally,the weight of the drop sash 24 should be sufficient to carry it bygravity into the well 38. However, in the event that it is not, anassist spring 85 may be provided to give it the initial downward push.The open sash area now permits smoke or heat to be ventilated from theadjacent portion of the building.

ln addition to functioning as a safety device, it may at times bedesirable to operate the drop sash when certain mechanical breakdownsoccur within the building. For example, if there is a breakdown inairconditioning, the interior of the building may become unbearable inwarm weather. In order to vent it, it is a simple operation to providean emergency switching device which would also activate the solenoid 70cansing the sash to drop. If that were to occur there may be a desire tomaintain the interior of the building free of insects. This can beaccomplished simply by means of a roll screen 86 which is connected tothe upper rail 42. The screen will follow the sash downwardly coveringthe open space with the screening.

When the drop sash 24 moves into the well 38, a stop 88 in a flange formis provided on the upper rail to limit the travel of the sash into thewell. This stop 88 bears against the upper surface 90 of the innerinsulating rail 34 in its rest position. The stop also functions as alifting surface to raise the sash.

While the present embodiment has been shown as an individually operatedsash member, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that ifdesired a number of sash units may be tied in by a single controlpoint'so that all the sash on a particular floor or in a particular section ofa building may be operated automatically at one time.

Further, while the moveable sash has been shown as a drop sash, the sashmay be pivoted inwardly or outwardly rather than dropped into a wall.

To those skilled in the arts, many combinations or variations on thepresent invention will be obvious and such modifications are not beyondthe scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety curtain wall construction comprising:

a. a curtain wall panel,

b. a support structure for said panel,

c. at least one moveable safety sash in said panel,

d. a sash receiving well beneath said safety sash and in said curtainwall into which said safety sash is adapted to be moved,

e. latch means for engaging and maintaining said sash in a closedposition relative to said panel, said latch means including a pivotedlatch engaging the moveable sash,

f. cam means for disengaing said latch means from said sash whereby saidsash may move to an open position with respect to said wall panel, saidcam means including a slotted cam pivoted on a pin with said camcontacting said latch,

g. a sensing device responsive to a selected undesired atmosphere, and

h. means connected to said sensing device and activated thereby to causesaid cam means to disengage said latch, said means including a solenoidhaving a throw on which the slotted cam is pivoted whereby energizing ofthe solenoid causes the throw to move the cam to disengage the latchfrom the moveable safety sash.

2. A safety curtain wall construction comprisng:

a. a curtain wall panel,

b. a support structure for said panel,

0. at least one moveable safety sash in said panel,

d. a sash receiving well beneath said safety sash and in said curtainwall into which said safety sash is adapted to be moved,

e. latch means for engaging and maintaining said sash in a closedposition relative to said panel, said latch means including a pivotedlatch engaging the moveable sash,

f. cam means for disengaging said latch means from said sash wherebysaid sash may move to an open position with respect to said wall panel,said cam means including a slotted cam pivoted on a pin with said camcontacting said latch,

g. a sensing device responsive to a selected undesired atmosphere, and

h. means connected to said sensing device and activated thereby to causesaid cam means to disengage said latch.

1. A safety curtain wall construction comprising: a. a curtain wall panel, b. a support structure for said panel, c. at least one moveable safety sash in said panel, d. a sash receiving well beneath said safety sash and in said curtain wall into which said safety sash is adapted to be moved, e. latch means for engaging and maintaining said sash in a closed position relative to said panel, said latch means including a pivoted latch engaging the moveable sash, f. cam means for disengaing said latch means from said sash whereby said sash may move to an open position with respect to said wall panel, said cam means including a slotted cam pivoted on a pin with said cam contacting said latch, g. a sensing device responsive to a selected undesired atmosphere, and h. means connected to said sensing device and activated thereby to cause said cam means to disengage said latch, said means including a solenoid having a throw on which the slotted cam is pivoted whereby energizing of the solenoid causes the throw to move the cam to disengage the latch from the moveable safety sash.
 2. A safetY curtain wall construction comprisng: a. a curtain wall panel, b. a support structure for said panel, c. at least one moveable safety sash in said panel, d. a sash receiving well beneath said safety sash and in said curtain wall into which said safety sash is adapted to be moved, e. latch means for engaging and maintaining said sash in a closed position relative to said panel, said latch means including a pivoted latch engaging the moveable sash, f. cam means for disengaging said latch means from said sash whereby said sash may move to an open position with respect to said wall panel, said cam means including a slotted cam pivoted on a pin with said cam contacting said latch, g. a sensing device responsive to a selected undesired atmosphere, and h. means connected to said sensing device and activated thereby to cause said cam means to disengage said latch. 